A PRINCIPALLY ROYAL DAY IN COLCHESTER

Principal Carissa Keepin and her assistant, Dennis Finnegan, have always been admired by their students.

But on Wednesday, they were treated like royalty.

To help second-graders at Jack Jackter Elementary School learn about fairy tales, Keepin and Finnegan were transformed into a princess and prince for a few hours, wearing crowns laden with jewelry and sitting on decorative thrones. The children had studied books such as "The Princess and the Pea" in their language arts courses.

Teachers Marianne Weiner and Elise Abel asked the administrators to dress up as royalty as "a great way to end a fairy-tale unit," Weiner said. They made the crowns and affixed plastic jewelry to white gloves for the finishing touches on the costumes.

As Keepin and Finnegan walked into the library, fanfare played from a boom box.

The administrators took their roles seriously, putting on royal accents and describing their spoiled lives in detail, including their 60- room castle, their elephants and 100 servants. Keepin, who lives in Harwinton, practiced her accent on her long commute to work.

Finnegan donned a red- and-gold velvet crown, a white robe and a red cape with black-spotted trim. Keepin wore a white gown and a blue cape with black- spotted trim.

Second-grader Lindsay Graves walked up to the royalty and bowed.

"What do you do in your castle all day?" she asked shyly.

"I give orders and it's lots of fun," Keepin said.

Another child asked the royal visitors whether they can eat anything they want.

"From the size of me, I think I do eat whatever I want," Finnegan said, patting his stomach as the children giggled.

Friends? No problem.

"I have all the friends I order. I order you to be my friend," Keepin said, pointing her purple scepter at a child. "There, I have another friend."

After they were done asking questions, each child in the class was rewarded with a title; some became the Royal Guard, others were the royal maids or court jesters. They bowed as they received their certificates.

Then the prince and princess led the students in a procession back to class, where they had tea and crumpets after lunch.